Alex Scharfman’s directorial debut, Death of a Unicorn, is a funny and fantastical dissent against big pharma. The framing and marketing materials make the film seem like just another monster movie. Only this time, the monster is a magical unicorn who was tragically struck like a deer on the road. As the film progresses though it becomes clear that the real villains are those who wish to profit off the unicorn. And everyone willing to pay for a piece of the magic.

Paul Rudd and Jenna Ortega lead this film and unfortunately, they are the least interesting characters of the bunch. The film really comes alive when we meet the Leopolds. A family of wealthy big pharma billionaires who have made their fortune off the misfortune of others. When opportunity by way of a magical unicorn knocks, the Leopolds are quick to answer. Searching for whatever way they can to profit off this massive discovery.

Unicorns

With the actual unicorn, we can see some of the film’s budget limitations start to show. Obviously, a unicorn is going to be CGI, but this CGI unicorn doesn’t look great. Nor do the various other unicorns that show up later in the film. This is a small quibble though, as Death of a Unicorn is less of a spectacle and more of a thought piece.

The idea of unicorns, mythical creatures with great powers, is a fantastic analogy for the film’s main themes. We often call profitable startup businesses “unicorns” as it’s so rare for a startup to be profitable. While Death of a Unicorn doesn’t specifically deal with a startup, it does deal with some incredibly wealthy people. People who have made their fortune by hiking up the price of life saving prescription drugs. This is not rare, but it gives the Leopold family a sense of entitlement that they are entirely undeserving of. They not only fail to see the error of their business practices, but they, in turn, believe they are doing a great service to mankind. A service they can continue with this new discovery of an endangered species.

Elliot & Ridley

Paul Rudd and Jenna Ortega’s characters come into the mix as a way of trying to break down the barriers of the Leopold family. Rudd is an attorney attempting to work with the Leopold family for financial gain. His motivations are stated as solely for the betterment of his family. This one contract, bending his morals just a bit, will set him and his daughter financially for decades to come. But his arc and motivations are similar to those of the Leopold family. He is just too blinded by his ambition to see it.

Jenna Ortega’s character, Ridley, is the only person pure enough to see through everything. She knows the Leopold family isn’t doing some great service to humanity. They are lining their pockets off the illness of the American population. And her father is not out to better their life. He is out to better his career. To be someone important. This analogy is clear from the onset of the film, but it doesn’t always work. Paul Rudd’s character Elliot is so underdeveloped that he rarely feels like a real person. He is essentially just the same character Rudd plays in every movie. A funny, not the brightest, but extremely lovable, goofy guy. And Ortega is doing the same, playing a precocious teenager who is too smart for her own good.

The Leopolds

The Leopold family, on the other hand, is tremendous and brings a significant amount of flair to the film’s family dynamic. Will Poulter stands out as the party drug-loving, too big for his britches son. He delivers laughs every time he’s on screen with his totally out-of-touch dialogue and eye-roll inducing attempts at intellect. Tea Leoni is also fantastic as the matriarch figure who is clearly just waiting for her older husband to pass away so she can inherit his vast fortune.

It would have been super easy to just play this family off as another villainous, hated family. But the film does a great job of making us hate them, but not making us hate seeing them on screen. Director Alex Scharfman has been able to pull off the same trick Rian Johnson did with his 2019 film Knives Out. Hes created a despicable family, one we are all actively rooting against, but still makes them a blast to see on screen.

Pacing

These characters wouldn’t work if Death of a Unicorn didn’t have a great hook, keeping the audience engaged. Fortunately, this absurd plot line works, and the script is paced fantastically well. We never linger too long on any one plot beat. As soon as the Unicorn is hit by their car, we’re right in Leopold’s house. Once the Leopolds learn of the Unicorns’ existence, we’re quickly seeing how they are going to use this discovery for profit. And as soon as that plot starts to wear out its welcome, the film comes back to life with the emergence of new unicorns, turning into a quasi-monster movie. It’s a tough balance between over-stuffed and slowly paced that Death of a Unicorn treads tremendously.

It all works, and it all works surprisingly well. One of the bigger problems I have with big concept movies like this is that they often seem to struggle finding their footing. Death of a Unicorn has something to say, but it doesn’t sacrifice a fun movie to reveal its themes. You can watch it as just a fun family dynamic film or a monster movie, and enjoy the film either way. You can also look for the deeper meanings, piecing out all the bits of themes and ideas the writers have left for us to find, and it works on that front as well.

The Death of Unicorns

Death of a Unicorn is a fantastic time at the movies and a great follow-up after A24’s financial disaster Opus. It’s a big idea, a grand concept, but it doesn’t get lost in its themes. It’s just as enjoyable a watch as any low-budget sci-fi horror movie, but done so with big-name actors and some fantastic performances.

Paul Rudd and Jenna Ortega may be the weak links in the acting category, but they do enough to ground the film against the almost cartoonish Leopold family. I would recommend this film for anyone looking for a fun time at the theater and who wants a little something more from their typical films. Its ideas and themes aren’t as big as something like The Brutalist, and it doesn’t deliver those themes as well as something like Companion. But it’s a great little movie with some laughs, poking fun at the ultra rich while they are torn apart by Unicorns.